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Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one ''
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'' hit " Runaway", which was covered later by various major artists including
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
and the
Traveling Wilburys The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 1988, consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. They were a roots rock band and described as "perhaps the biggest sup ...
. In 1999, he was posthumously inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
. In addition to his music career, he had minor acting roles.


Biography

Shannon was born Charles Weedon Westover on December 30, 1934, in
Coopersville, Michigan Coopersville is a city located in north central Ottawa County, Michigan, Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,828 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is primarily a farming community. The city is loca ...
, to Bert and Leone Mosher Westover. He learned to play the ukulele and guitar and listened to country-and-western music by artists such as
Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...
, Hank Snow, and Lefty Frizzell. He was drafted into the Army in 1954 and, while in Germany, played guitar in a band called The Cool Flames. When his service ended, he returned to Battle Creek, Michigan, and worked as a carpet salesman and as a truck driver for a furniture factory. He found part-time work as a rhythm guitarist in singer Doug DeMott's group, The Moonlight Ramblers, working at the Hi-Lo Club. When DeMott was fired in 1958 for drunkenness, Westover took over as leader and singer, giving himself the name Charlie Johnson and renaming the band the Big Little Show Band. In early 1959 he added the keyboardist Max Crook, who played an instrument he called a Musitron (an early synthesizer of Crook's own invention, though modeled on the commercially released Clavioline). Crook had made recordings, and he persuaded Ann Arbor disc jockey Ollie McLaughlin to listen to the band. McLaughlin took the group's demos to Harry Balk and Irving Micahnik of Talent Artists in Detroit. In July 1960, Westover and Crook signed to become recording artists and composers for Bigtop Records. Balk suggested Westover use a new name, and they came up with "Del Shannon", combining Mark Shannon—a wrestling pseudonym used by a regular at the Hi-Lo Club—with Del, derived from the Cadillac Coupe de Ville, his favorite car.


Success

He flew to New York City, but his first sessions were not successful. McLaughlin then persuaded Shannon and Crook to rewrite and re-record one of their earlier songs, originally called "Little Runaway", using the Musitron as lead instrument. On January 21, 1961, they recorded "Runaway", which was released as a single in February 1961, reaching number 1 on the ''
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'' chart in April. Shannon followed with " Hats Off to Larry", which peaked at number 5 on the ''Billboard'' chart and number 2 on the '' Cashbox'' chart in 1961, and the less popular "So Long, Baby", another song of breakup bitterness. "Runaway" and "Hats Off to Larry" were recorded in a day.


Berlee Records and Amy Records

By August 1963, Shannon's relationship with his managers and Bigtop had soured, so he formed his own label, Berlee Records, named after his parents. He returned to the charts immediately with " Handy Man" (a 1960 hit by Jimmy Jones), " Do You Wanna Dance?" (a 1958 hit by Bobby Freeman), and two originals, " Keep Searchin'" (number 3 in the UK; number 9 in the U.S.), and " Stranger in Town" (number 40 in the UK). In late 1964, Shannon produced a demo recording session for a young fellow Michigander named Bob Seger, who would go on to stardom much later. Shannon gave acetates of the session to
Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid (game show), ...
(he had performed in one of Clark's tours, in 1965) and, by 1966, Seger was recording for Philadelphia's famed Cameo Records, resulting in some regional hits, which eventually led to a deal with a major label,
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
. Also in late 1964, Shannon paid tribute to one of his own musical idols with '' Del Shannon Sings Hank Williams'' (Amy Records 8004). The album was recorded in hard-core country honky-tonk style, and no singles were released. Shannon opened for Ike and Tina Turner at Dave Hull's Hullabaloo club in Los Angeles, California, on December 22, 1965.


Liberty Records, United Artists Records and Island Records

Shannon signed with Liberty in 1966 and revived Toni Fisher's " The Big Hurt" and the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
' "Under My Thumb".
Peter and Gordon Peter and Gordon were a British pop duo, composed of Peter Asher (b. 1944) and Gordon Waller (1945–2009), who achieved international fame in 1964 with their first single, the million-selling "A World Without Love". The duo had several subseq ...
released his song " I Go to Pieces" in 1965. In September 1967, Shannon began laying down the tracks for '' The Further Adventures of Charles Westover'', which was highly regarded by fans and critics alike despite disappointing sales. The album yielded two 1968 singles, "Thinkin' It Over" and "Gemini". In October 1968, Liberty Records released their tenth (in the United States) and final Shannon single, a cover of Dee Clark's 1961 hit " Raindrops". This brought to a close a commercially disappointing period in Shannon's career. In 1972, he signed with United Artists and recorded ''Live in England'', released in June 1973. Reviewer Chris Martin critiqued the album favourably, saying that Shannon never improvised, was always true to the original sounds of his music and that only Lou Christie rivaled his
falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...
. In April 1975, he signed with
Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...
. After he and his manager jointly sought back royalties for Shannon, Bug Music was founded in 1975 to administer his songs. By 2011, when Bug was acquired by
BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its st ...
, its catalogue had grown to include 250,000 compositions. A 1976 article on Shannon's concert at the Roxy Theatre described the singer as "personal, pure and simple rock 'n' roll, dated but gratifyingly undiluted." Shannon sang some of his new rock songs along with classics like "Endless Sleep" and "The Big Hurt". The ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote, "Shannon's haunting vignettes of heartbreak and restlessness contain something of a cosmic undercurrent which has the protagonist tragically doomed to a bleak, shadowy struggle."


Later career

Shannon's career slowed down greatly in the 1970s, owing in part to his alcoholism. The Welsh rock singer Dave Edmunds produced the single "And the Music Plays On" in 1974. In 1978 Shannon stopped drinking and began work on "Sea of Love", released in 1982 on his album ''Drop Down and Get Me'', produced by
Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...
. The album took two years to record and featured Petty's band, the Heartbreakers, backing Shannon. However, RSO Records, to which Shannon was signed, folded. Further work on the LP was done for Network Records (distributed by
Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...
). Seven songs are Shannon originals with covers of songs recorded by the Everly Brothers, the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
, and Frankie Ford, along with "Sea of Love" by Phil Phillips. It was Shannon's first album in eight years. In February 1982, Shannon appeared at the Bottom Line. He performed pop-rock tunes and old hits. Stephen Holden, a reviewer for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', described an "easygoing pop-country" style. On "Runaway" and "Keep Searchin'", Shannon and his band rediscovered the sound "in which his keen falsetto played off against airy organ
obbligato In Western classical music, ''obbligato'' (, also spelled ''obligato'') usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking '' ad libitum''. It can also be used, more specifically, to ind ...
s." In the 1980s, Shannon performed "competent but mundane country-rock". Shannon had a resurgence of popularity after re-recording "Runaway" with new lyrics as the theme for the NBC-TV program '' Crime Story''. In 1988, Shannon sang "The World We Know" with the Smithereens on their album '' Green Thoughts''. Two years later, he recorded with Jeff Lynne of the
Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...
, and there were rumors he would join the
Traveling Wilburys The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 1988, consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. They were a roots rock band and described as "perhaps the biggest sup ...
after the death of Roy Orbison. Previously, in 1975, Shannon had recorded tracks with Lynne, along with "In My Arms Again", a country song he wrote and recorded for Warner Bros. Records, which had signed Shannon in 1984.


Death and legacy

In January 1990, Shannon was pushing himself to finish a new album and schedule upcoming concerts, resulting in troublesome stress. On the advice of his doctor, on January 24, Shannon began taking Prozac, an antidepressant. Fifteen days later, he died by suicide, shooting himself with a .22 caliber rifle at his home in Santa Clarita, California, on February 8, 1990. "He was very much in charge of his business, but within days after he started taking Prozac I noticed a personality change in him. He developed severe insomnia, extreme fatigue, chills, racing heart, dry mouth, and upset stomach," testified LeAnne Westover, Shannon's widow. "Suicide was totally out of character for my husband. There was no note and no goodbye." Following his death, the Wilburys honored him by recording a version of "Runaway". Jeff Lynne also co-produced Shannon's posthumous album, ''Rock On'', released by Silvertone Records in 1991. Shannon was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
in 1999 and into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2005. A Del Shannon Memorial Scholarship Fund was set up following Shannon's death.
Coopersville, Michigan Coopersville is a city located in north central Ottawa County, Michigan, Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,828 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is primarily a farming community. The city is loca ...
, holds an annual Del Shannon Car Show.


Discography

*'' Runaway with Del Shannon'' (June 1961) *'' Hats Off to Del Shannon'' (May 1963) – not issued in US. UK, New Zealand and Australia only *'' Little Town Flirt'' (June 1963) ( US #12) *'' Handy Man'' (October 1964) *'' Del Shannon Sings Hank Williams'' (February 1965) *'' 1,661 Seconds With Del Shannon'' (April 1965) *'' This Is My Bag'' (July 1966) *'' Total Commitment'' (October 1966) *'' The Further Adventures of Charles Westover'' (March 1968) *'' Live in England'' (June 1973) *''...And the Music Plays On'' (1978) *'' Drop Down and Get Me'' (October 1981) (US #123) *'' Rock On!'' (October 1991) *''
Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...
'' (recorded in 1967, released in 2006) *'' The Dublin Sessions'' (recorded in 1977, released in July 2017)


References


Literature

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External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shannon, Del 1934 births 1990 deaths 1990 suicides 20th-century American singer-songwriters American rock singers American rock songwriters Dunhill Records artists Elektra Records artists Island Records artists Liberty Records artists Musicians from Grand Rapids, Michigan People from Ottawa County, Michigan People from Santa Clarita, California Rock and roll musicians Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from Michigan Suicides by firearm in California United Artists Records artists United States Army soldiers